Vattenfall AB aims at full ownership of German subsidiary

Vattenfall AB has exceeded the threshold of 95 percent holding and votes in its German subsidiary Vattenfall Europe AG, and has requested the Management Board to prepare a so-called ‘squeeze out' of the remaining minority shareholders.

"The takeover of the remaining shares in Vattenfall Europe AG concludes a process that began in November 1999 with our acquisition of 25.1 percent of HEW AG," explains Vattenfall’s President and CEO Lars G. Josefsson. "We now make it plain that Vattenfall has come to Germany to stay. We are creating stable conditions for our continued growth on the European energy market." Vattenfall Europe in Germany is today the single biggest entity in the Vattenfall Group in terms of turn-over and number of employees. Vattenfall Europe was formed by the merger of four German energy companies, including two – HEW AG in Hamburg and Bewag in Berlin – that were quoted on the stock exchange, and thus entrained a small batch of minority shareholders. For more information, please contact: Martin May, Head of Group Media Relations: + 46 8 739 52 70, or: + 46 70 539 52 70. From Vattenfall's Press Office, telephone: + 46 8 739 50 10.